In college football has there ever been a 4 to 4 tie game from about 1912 or 1913 until the overtime rule came in?

Answer 1

Answer
I don't know, and records from that era are sketchy. But I would seriously doubt that this ever happened. There is only one way that a team can score exactly four points, and that is two safeties*. A safety is fairly rare in football at any level (you might see one in every 25-30 games), so you can imagine how unlikely it is to see a team get two in one game. Now imagine TWO teams pulling off that feat in the same game, which is what is required for a 4-4 tie. I can't say for sure, but it seems highly unlikely to me.

*Technically, there three other ways for a single team to score exactly 4 points in a game, but they all involve at least one "defensive conversion safety", which is worth one point. The three scoring combinations are: 1) 4 DCSs, 2) 2 DCSs + 1 Safety, and 3) 1 DCS + 1 Field Goal. However, such a score can ONLY occur on the point after/conversion try immediately following a touchdown scored by the other team, which is itself worth six points. Therefore, if the four points scored by one team include a defensive conversion safety, the other team MUST have at least six points, so the final score of 4-4 is impossible. (For the record, no team has ever recorded a defensive conversion safety in collegefootball.)


A 4-4 tie did happen in 1904 (and perhaps other times). The Colardo School of Mines and Colorado College achieved this score on November 19. Field Goals were worth four points at that time.